Prime Minister Keir Starmer during a joint press conference with US President Donald Trump in the East Room at the White House in Washington DC after their meeting in the Oval Office, February 27, 2025
SIR KEIR STARMER’S prostration before Donald Trump looks set to receive a humiliating rebuff as the US president announces tariffs on the British economy.
The Prime Minister has been almost alone among world leaders in refusing to criticise the erratic Mr Trump in the hope that Britain would be spared from his economic warfare.
Yet Sir Keir conceded that it was likely that Britian will be hit by the tariffs due to be unveiled by Mr Trump today, which could amount to a tax of 25 per cent of value on all goods entering the US.
China, Canada and Mexico have already been targeted.
Sir Keir said he was working on mitigating the impact on British businesses and claimed that “all options remain on the table” in terms of a response.
“The likelihood is there will be tariffs. Nobody welcomes that,” the Prime Minister told Sky News. “We are obviously working with the sectors most impacted,at pace.
“Nobody wants to see a trade war but I have to act in the national interests.”
Facing allegations that he has been “played” by the US president — to whom Sir Keir theatrically handed an invitation for a state visit to Britain, and briefed on police action against those who allegedly vandalised one of his UK properties — the prime minister said: “The US is our closest ally.
“Our defence, our security, our intelligence are bound up in a way that no two other countries are.
“So it’s obviously in our national interest to have a close working relationship with the US, which we’ve had for decades, and I want to ensure we have for decades to come.”
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said that Britain could nevertheless reach an economic agreement with the US in the near future, which could dilute the impact of tariffs.
“The framework of an agreement is certainly in place,” he said.
Mr Reynolds also denied reports that the US had told Britain “no free trade [is possible] without free speech,” apparently a reference to the case of anti-abortion campaigner Livia Tossici-Bolt, who is being prosecuted for an alleged breach of a buffer zone outside a Bournemouth abortion clinic.
The verdict is due on Friday following a trial at Poole magistrates’ court.
The case is a lodestar for the US right, including elements within the administration.
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